Hillsborough’s Sherit lands offers from Oklahoma, Ole Miss

Posted Feb 10, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 10, 2012 at 09:31 PM

Two more scholarship offers have landed in the big hands of Hillsborough defensive end Jordan Sherit, including his first from the Big 12.

Seven-time national champions Oklahoma has made an official pitch for the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Sherit, Terriers coach Earl Garcia said Friday. Later that day, Garcia said Sherit picked up Ole Miss, his fourth Southeastern Conference school.

That brings his Division I total to 16 offers. And it’s still only the winter of his junior season.

Rivals.com recently rated Sherit the nation’s No. 76 player and the No. 5 defensive end. And with his frame, speed, tackling ability (a team-high 110 tackles and nine sacks) and grades (he’s in Hillsborough’s International Baccalaureate program), there’s a good reason why Garcia says Sherit “has all the parts.”

Sherit also owns offers from Arizona, Illinois, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Purdue, Connecticut, the University of Central Florida, South Carolina, Auburn, Purdue, Duke, Miami, Vanderbilt and the University of South Florida.

---

Gaither’s Stanger ranked tops in his class by Golfweek Magazine

Posted Feb 10, 2012 by Jarrett Guthrie

Updated Feb 10, 2012 at 12:38 PM

Gaither junior Jimmy Stanger has been ranked as the No. 1 golfer graduating in 2013 in the state of Florida and No. 11 nationally by Golfweek Magazine for the month of February. In the adjusted poll of all junior golfers (with c/0 2012 and younger included) Stanger is ranked No. 50 nationally and sixth in the state.

Stanger won the Class 2A-9 district title at Temple Terrace finishing five strokes ahead of the next competitor shooting a 3-under 69. Stanger qualified for the 2A state tournament in November finishing 28th and was awarded Tampa Tribune All-Hillsborough County first team honors.

---

Former Shorecrest football coach Hayford among 34 applying for Brandon job

Posted Feb 10, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 10, 2012 at 12:09 PM

Brandon High athletic director Tibor Kovacs has released the list of names who have applied for the head football coaching position at the school. A total of 34 applications sit on his desk and Kovacs said he and a selection panel will begin narrowing the list Monday.

Some notable names are on the list, including former Shorecrest Prep head coach Phil Hayford. He headed the Chargers’ football program in St. Petersburg for 33 years—the longest run of ay coach in Pinellas County—when he learned last fall the school’s administrators were not going to renew his contract.

Others on the list include former Hillsborough County heads coaches Hugh Dehnert (Leto), now an assistant at Plant, Mark Kantor (Gaither), now an assistant at Wharton, Sean Washington (Blake) and two former Strawberry Crest head coaches, Todd Donohoe and Gerold Dickens.

Current Armwoos assistant Isaac Anderson has also applied. Many on the list have also applied for jobs at other openings in the county.

Also applying are Chuck Darby, a defensive tackle on the Bucs’ 2003 Super Bowl championship squad, former Tampa Bay Storm assistant Ron Selesky and former Bloomigdale High and South Florida running back Brian Surcy.

---

Jesuit QB Tommy Eveld accepts USF walk-on offer, joins brother

Posted Feb 10, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 10, 2012 at 09:40 AM

Jesuit quarterback Tommy Eveld, who last season threw for 2,326 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 111 yards and another three TDs, has accepted a preferred walk-on spot at the University of South Florida.

Despite his impressive statistics last fall, the 6-foot-5, 195-pound Eveld only had scholarship offers from several smaller schools, including Division II Fairmont State and Division III John Carroll and Marietta. He also had a grayshirt offer from Western Kentucky.

Jesuit coach James Harrell put it down to the fact Eveld came on strong as a senior when most Division I programs begin seeking quarterbacks in their junior season or earlier. But after a recent visit to the USF campus and considering his options, Tommy chose to stay close to home.

Tommy Eveld said USF was his dream school all along and is glad he will be a Bull.

“It didn’t turn out exactly like what I wanted it to but I’m happy with my decision. And with the quarterback situation there at USF, I think I will eventually have a shot at playing,” Tommy said. “I’ve been talking to a lot of coaches and spending a lot of time on this. Now I can concentrate on school and my studies. It’s a big relief.”

At South Florida, Eveld will join his brother, Bobby, who is a sophomore. He, too, was a recruited walk-on out of Jesuit in 2010. That season, he went on to appear in six games and started in the Bulls’ season finale against Cincinnati.

---

2 baseball players make commitments

Posted Feb 9, 2012 by Adam Adkins

Updated Feb 9, 2012 at 05:03 PM

Two Hillsborough County junior baseball players have made verbal commitments to in-state Division I programs.

Gaither shortstop Oscar Mercado has pledged to Florida State according to coach Frank Permuy, while Durant coach Butch Valdes said shortstop/pitcher Tyler Danish has pledged to Florida.

Mercado, entering his third year as a starter for the Cowboys, hit .338 with four doubles, three triples, 23 RBIs and 21 runs scored last season.

Danish was a second team all-county pick by the Tribune in 2011 after batting .484 with 15 doubles, 16 RBIs and 23 runs scored.

---

State cross country meet leaving Little Everglades

Posted Feb 9, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 9, 2012 at 05:57 PM

After staging the state cross country championships at Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City since 2005, the Florida High School Athletics Association announced today the venue’s foundation has been granted a release from its final year as the meet’s contracted host, FHSAA director of athletics Shanell Young confirmed Thursday.

The popular Pre-State meet will also no longer be staged at Little Everglades Ranch.

In recent years, there has been growing gulf between the owners of Little Everglades Ranch and those in the state’s cross country community, particularly the coaches. The main issue has been entre fees and the price to park and attend events there. For the Pre-State meet, the ranch charged entry fees close to $150 per school. Spectators for this meet and the state finals were charged $9 each and $10 for parking, including buses and vans that transported the teams.

Organizers of the event claim the pricing was needed to help offset the cost of keeping up the facility, which is designed primarily for horse steeplechase races. The parking policy was done, they say, to avoid confusion as to who and who was not allowed to park free in the rush of traffic trying to enter the parking area at peak times. And when passes were issued to teams in the past, organizers say some teams abused the passes or allowed them to end up in the wrong team vehicle.

Plant coach Roy Harrison said he has mixed feelings about the meet leaving Little Everglades.

“It’s nice to change it around, travel and get away from Tampa a little bit,” Harrison said. “But I think we should have a permanent site for the state meet. We have no state records because we’re always moving the state meet.

“I liked the Little Everglades course a lot meet because as a coach, I could see my runners a lot. They let you on the infield and I could see them all over the course. A lot of meets, they won’t let you do that.”

Panthers boys coach Mike Boza said he understands the financial reasons for the move.

“I’m going to miss the course but with it being a private location, it was necessary for them to require a certain amount of revenue to cover their expenses,” Boza said. “Hopefully, we can find a public venue and a sports commission elsewhere that will allow us to have a great state meet.”

The FHSAA will post proposals specifications for the meet on its web site starting April 1. Request for Proposals (RFP) packages will then be sent to interested bidders. Once the bids have been submitted, FHSAA officials will make site visits, rank the bidders and make a decision on the top venue before starting negotiations.

“The FHSAA has been contacted verbally by a number of venues interested in hosting the Cross Country Finals thus far and we eagerly await the responses from facilities that want to partner with us,” Sobers said.

The venue prior to Little Everglades was Tampa’s Ed Radice Sports Complex in northwest Tampa. The meet has also been as far away as north Jacksonville.

---

Wharton athletes Litton, Enos, arrested

Posted Feb 9, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 9, 2012 at 03:01 PM

Wharton High football standouts Chase Litton and Rocky Enos, both 16-year-olds, were arrested Wednesday on multiple charges, both felony and misdemeanor, for burgarly and theft, Hillsborough County Sherriff’s Office records show.

After being arrested and booked at the Orient Road jail, Litton, the Wildcats’ starting quarterback, was released a few hours later on his recognizance. Litton is also a starter on Wharton’s basketball team, which is scheduled to play Plant on Friday for the district title.

Enos, who started at linebacker last fall, was arrested at Wharton and released this morning from the Orient Road jail.

The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Litton earned the starting job at quarterback last season as a sophomore and Enos is a 5-11, 185-pound junior. Both players were honorable mention selections for the Tampa Tribune’s 2011 all-Hilsborough County football team.

Enos was arrested on a total of 10 charges and Litton was booked on 10. Each teenager is facing charges of third-degree felony burglary of unoccupied dwellings and vehicles, as well as theft (articles in value from $300 to $5,000). Both are also charged with petit theft.

Wharton football coach David Mitchell could not be immediately reached for comment.

Photo: Wharton sophomore QB Chase Litton in action last season against Durant. Photo by Kevin Howe/Tampa Tribune.

---

Plant has some fun with the Governor

Posted Feb 9, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 9, 2012 at 11:46 AM

When reading all the accomplishments of Plant’s football and girls cross country teams at his cabinet meeting Thursday at the Florida State Fairgrounds, Florida Governor Rick Scott went off script several times and, while recognizing their outstanding achievements, poked a little fun at both squads, too.

Under head coach Robert Weiner, who was also in attendance, Scott said, this senior class of football players has won four district and regional titles, three state crowns and lost just six games.

“What, were you just being nice those (six) days?” Scott joked about the Panthers’ football dominance.

Scott also acknowledged the Panthers football team’s academic success of achieving a team grade point average of 3.1. And then he moved on to the girls cross country team, which has a GPA of 3.8, qualified for the state meet 25 straight years, finished in the top five 21 teams and won 10 state championships under coach Roy Harrison.

“That’s a little greedy,” Scott said of Plant’s record number of girls state championships. “You should share a little bit.”

And then Scott had a little more fun. As he called them up to the podium for a photo opportunity, he noted the Plant girls had “A little higher GPA there” than the football players.

The captains representing the football team were Daniel Casselli, Antonio Crawford, James Few, Jonathan Haney, Tate Rogers and Patrick Wright. Also on hand was Plant principal Rob Nelson.

The cross country team included Danielle Kissel, Julia Rodriguez, Kara Halfaker, Caroline Gibson, Erica Oosterhout, Kartherine Ralston and Scarlett Fox. Fox asked them on the podium if he had mispronounced any of their names, including Oosterhout’s, to which Halfaker replied “Uh, kinda.” 

---

Robinson’s Rivera signs with Ridgewater

Posted Feb 8, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 8, 2012 at 04:03 PM

Robinson senior Vic Rivera, a two-year starter at defensive back, has signed a letter on intent with Ridgewater College, a community and technical college in Willmar, Minn., Knights assistant coach Shawn Taylor announced Wednesday.

Ridgewater competes in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC) and Region 13 of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Rivera will join three players from Plant already there, Davis Marvel, Steven Galloway and Estimphile Wadensky.

Wesley Chapel receiver Robert Jota also signed recently with Ridgewater.

The 6-foot, 190-pound Rivera had six interceptions as a junior and three last fall. He also recorded a total of 76 tackles over the course of two seasons and knocked down five pass attempts.

---

DeCamp hired as co-defensive coordinator at Robinson

Posted Feb 8, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 8, 2012 at 03:09 PM

After working as a position coach the past 10 years at Jesuit and Plant, Scott DeCamp says it was time to be a varsity coordinator. He officially took that step this week when Robinson head coach Mike DePue announced DeCamp has been hired to be the Knight’s co-defensive coordinator.

DeCamp’s most recent post has been as defensive backs coach for Jesuit the last two seasons under James Harrel. From 2004-09, DeCamp was a junior varsity defensive coordinator and varsity assistant at Plant under Robert Weiner. And prior to that, he was an assistant at Jesuit under former coach Dominick Ciao.

“The hardest part is leaving the kids and coaches at Jesuit because they’re all just great people,” DeCamp said. “But coordinating is something I’ve always wanted to do and at Robinson, I really feel like I’m needed there.”

DeCamp, however, won’t be too far removed from Jesuit because Robinson competes in the same Class 5A district as the Tigers.

DePue, who is in his last year as a teacher at Robinson before his scheduled retirement, said he and DeCamp will share duties as defensive coordinators. DePue said DeCamp is a good fit for his staff and that the athletes at Robinson have already connected with him.

“He’s going to do a great job for us,” DePue said. “He’s going to bring a lot of knowledge and energy for us here and we’re putting him to work.”

---